Communication: The Future’s healthcare instrument in medication
Background
Among the various tools that provide an effective environment for carrying out of healthcare activities and operations within a healthcare institution include effective communication. This is one of the main areas that David Chase has focused on, in his bid to establish and explain the necessity of effective communication and its consequential impact in healthcare services’ provision. According to Chase, technology (particularly the internet) is the main tool that has played a major role in communication in the healthcare industry, and considering the fact that the patient is the most essential care team member, establishing effective communication means with them is a sure way to guarantee effective services and satisfactory healthcare provision. This is, at the same time, the main challenge that David Chase has pointed out, considering the fact that there has been poor communication levels between medical assistants, professions and care givers with their patients. Consequently, this has resulted to poor healthcare services.
According to various other professionals such as Wendy Sue Swanson, effective communication is an essential ingredient for quality healthcare services, even with the advanced and developed healthcare systems, medicines, technology and even the current healthcare devices used in healthcare institutions. This is due to the fact that the presence of the same but absence in coordination, especially on their use, will lead to poor, no or undesirable healthcare outcomes. David Chase asserts that decision making and implementation of the decisions are the two main founding blocks upon which effective healthcare services provision perch. Communication between these two fronts, therefore, provide an position for the healthcare facility to grip control of all the activities that take place in the institution, facilitate all the needs, as well as direct the steps and measures to be taken by each department in the healthcare facility, in order to provide effective services to the patient, who is the most essential and critical person in the entire healthcare chain. Communication must, therefore, be balanced and harnessed between the healthcare system and person (patient), to enhance healthcare coordination between the institution, its management and the patient.
With this in mind, there are several stakeholders that are necessary in making sure that there is effective supply of all the relevant information as well as communication between the three established fronts. These are the healthcare officials and professionals, the government, the Information & Technology department, as well as the patients themselves. The healthcare providers have a role in providing helpful information to the patients concerning their state, medication and various precautions to take (for example in medical prescription), whereas the Information & Technology department should make sure that there is effective coordination of information and communication amongst all the stakeholders. The government, on the other hand, should fully support the medical/healthcare institutions, as well as financial support, such as through medical insurance cover to the patients. This information should, also be freely and adequately supplied to the general public, who should understand their health rights, as well as measures to take in given situations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is necessary to note that coordination between all stakeholders in the healthcare and medical field is necessary, in order to ensure that communication and passing of information across the different departments takes place and consequently, there is effective and quality healthcare provision to the patients. At the same time, it also ensures that the patients (as well as potential patients) have sufficient information concerning their health, as well as healthcare services and how to access them.
Works cited
Chase, David. “Healthcare's Medical Instrument of the Future: Communication.” Forbes magazine, March 2012. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/davechase/2012/03/22/healthcares-medical-instrument-of-the-future-communication/ on August 1st, 2013.
